Lord Skanda-Murugan
 

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Mauritius to Host 2nd World Conference on Skanda-Murugan

(Chennai, 8 October 2000) In 1998, India hosted the First International Conference Seminar on Skanda-Murugan at the Institute of Asian Studies in Chennai. Some 150 delegates and observers from 23 countries participated in the Conference.

The Second International Conference Seminar on Skanda-Murugan to be held in Mauritius during 24-28 April 2001 will assemble experts of many disciplines from around the world sharing an interest in the composite Aryan-Dravidian god Skanda-Murugan. The theme of the second world conference is "Murugan devotion among the Tamil diaspora".

Since late Vedic times in the Sanskrit tradition and perhaps far earlier among Dravidian and tribal peoples of the South, the vigorous and complex deity Murugan (Tamil: 'Youthful or Tender One') or Skanda (Sanskrit: 'Leaper or Attacker') has exerted a powerful influence upon Indian literature and religious thought. Even today, his cult commands the allegiance of millions of devotees in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius, South Africa and wherever there are expatriate Tamil communities.

The forthcoming world conference in Mauritius represents an extraordinary opportunity for devotees and scholars to meet and interact. Undoubtedly, the conference will long be remembered as a watershed in the study of one of the world's great religious and literary traditions.

Full details on the coming world conference on Skanda-Murugan may be had at the Murugan Conference web site www.murugan.org or from the Institute of Asian Studies in Chennai.


For details, e-mail to the Institute of Asian Studies, Chennai or

Visit the Murukan Conference web site.